Donda West

Donda C. West (née Williams; July 12, 1949 – November 10, 2007) was an American academic. She was a professor and chair of Chicago State University's Communications, Media and Theater. She was the mother of rapper Kanye West.

Life
West was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma however spent most of her life in Chicago, Illinois. 

She began her teaching career in the early 1970s at Morris Brown College in Atlanta and began working at Chicago State University in 1980. West taught English at Nanjing University for a year as a scholar through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. 

On November 10, 2007, West died in Los Angeles, California from a heart attack caused by plastic surgery-related problems and coronary artery disease at age 58. After her death, an investigation showed the surgeon who gave her the surgery had a history of alcohol offenses and had two major medical legal issues.

Legacy
After her death, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the "Donda West Law" in 2009, that makes it mandatory for patients to receive medical clearance through a physical examination before going through elective cosmetic surgery.

Kanye also named his tenth studio album, released in 2021, Donda, after his mother. Kanye donated student tickets to Chicago State University, the university where Donda worked at, for the listening session of the album.

References

Category:1949 births
Category:2007 deaths
Category:Educators from Oklahoma City
Category:Writers from Oklahoma City
Category:Educators from Chicago
Category:Writers from Chicago
Category:Kanye West